Time to dump the Baltimore inferiority complex

Baltimore is, by nature, a metropolis that has long suffered from an inferiority complex, probably more so than other East Coast cities. Oh, it's that town outside the nation's capital. It's that blur of a city that many bypass on I-95 north to Philadelphia or perhaps New York.

Those days are now in the rear view mirror, as the city and surrounding region celebrates its recent Super Bowl victory. I have been following local sports since the early 1960s, but I have never seen anything quite like what we experienced with the welcome home to our determined, feisty Ravens. There is a serious love affair that the Ravens organization is having with the city (and surrounding regions). It truly is a moving thing to see 200,000 fans show in support of their heroes.

The $64,000 question is how to bottle that positive experience and move forward as a city with the same mentality. Highly exposed sporting events like the Super Bowl now cast the Ravens, and our city, in a different light, as if to shout to the nation, "Hey, we are Baltimore, and we're extremely proud of it."

Elementary schools held rallies; senior centers had pre-and post-Super Bowl parties. Baltimoreans seem a little kinder to their fellow citizens now that we are football champions. It's more than an on-field victory. More importantly is that it definitively puts Baltimore's star on the map. Yep, that city by the Patapsco is in a fine place.

Let's see how a victory by our team can translate into nothing but positives for our city. What an exhilarating and timely victory for our football team. Let's harness some of that energy and apply it to making Baltimore a city whose inferiority complex has been put to rest.